


Hope

by Writer_Geekgirl



Series: Castiel and Dean: An AU Love Story [26]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dean Winchester Uses Actual Words, Domestic Fluff, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 06:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16423901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Geekgirl/pseuds/Writer_Geekgirl
Summary: In the ongoing series in which the Winchesters visit alternate realities, Dean travels to a world in which Castiel is a fay living in a tree with two adorable daughters.This work is part of the Destiel Promptober in which there is a different AU theme for each day in October. The AU for the day is Magical Girl.





	Hope

Dean drove into the night. He knew he shouldn't be this upset. He definitely shouldn't have lashed out at Castiel and Sam that way, but it hurt. He really thought he could save the iteration of Castiel in the apocalypse world. He realized that was not a reasonable expectation, but he could see pieces of his Castiel in that broken shell of an angel. He drove the Impala to an open field, pulled a beer out of the cooler in the back, and stared up at the stars.

He drifted off to sleep but awoke to the giggling of voices. He opened one eye to see two small blonde girls, who looked almost identical, staring at him. They appeared to be six or seven years old, wore matching green dresses, and had wreaths of flowers intertwined in their hair. He was lying on the ground in a clearing in a forest.

"Shhhh, Hope. He's going to wake up."

"So what if he does, Faith?" The one she called Hope replied.

"He might be grumpy, like an old bear, when he wakes up." Faith replied.

Dean internally snorted at the names Faith and Hope. What kind of bizarro world was he in now. He said quietly, "Good morning." He sat up slowly, so he didn't scare them.

Hope said, "He's not like an old bear, silly." She poked Faith.

Faith replied, "I think he's more like a squirrel."

"Where are your parents?"

Hope and Faith looked at each other. Hope asked, "Parents? What's that?"

"The person who takes care of you?"

"Oh, he means Castiel. Castiel is at our home," Faith answered.

Dean grumbled, "He just lets you run wild in the woods alone?"

Faith and Hope looked at each other quizzically with their heads tilted. It was such a Castiel expression that Dean laughed.

Faith looked at him, "Squirrel, you should do that more often. The angry lines around your eyes go away when you laugh."

"My name isn't Squirrel, it's Dean," Dean answered. "But seriously, you guys just run around loose? Aren't there like coyotes or something that might eat you?"

"No animals would harm us. Castiel would banish them from the forest," Hope said in total disbelief as if she wondered how Dean could even consider such a thing. 

"Can I meet your Castiel?"

"Oh, sure. It's about lunchtime. Follow us." The girls skipped ahead of him, as he trotted to keep up. They led him on a path to the forest until they reached a giant tree. They stood on a large wooden slab. Hope called, "Castiel, we're home."

The wooden slab started to move upwards. Dean didn't see or hear any machinery, but the girls had an elevator up to a tree house. Dean looked in amazement when they arrived at the top. Their home was a large platform nestled within the boughs of the tree with several small buildings on it. A guardrail surrounded the platform, so it would be difficult to fall over. 

Castiel emerged from one of the buildings covered in bees. He wore green trousers but had no shirt and the bees roamed over him freely. Castiel looked at the girls, "You didn't say we had a visitor."

Faith said, "Oh, Castiel meet Squirrel. Squirrel, meet Castiel."

Dean responded, "My name is actually Dean. She just likes to call me Squirrel." Dean started to extend his hand for a handshake but had better thought of it after a bee flew and landed on it.

Castiel smiled before saying, "Everyone, back to the hive." All of the bees flew up and around the tree. "My apologies. I told them I would take them for a walk."

"You walk bees?"

"Of course, they work extremely hard to make honey. They deserve a walk now and again. Don't you walk your bees? They'll give you more honey if you do."

Dean opened his mouth and closed it because he didn't know what to say. This Castiel seemed like a cross of crazy Castiel during the Leviathan saga and drugged Castiel of the Endverse.

Hope said, "We invited him back for lunch. That's ok, isn't it, Castiel?"

"Of course. I don't see many humans in the woods here. Do you enjoy tomato-rice soup?"

"It's actually my favorite. Aren't you human?" Dean looked at him quizzically. 

Faith giggled, "He's so funny, Castiel. Can we keep him?"

"He's a visitor, not a pet," Castiel chastised her. "You two wash up and meet us in the kitchen. We're fay." Castiel smiled at them fondly as they scampered away.

"Are you their father?" 

Castiel's face darkened for a moment. "Their parents were killed by hunters. We moved far deeper into the forest."

"I'm sorry." Dean shuffled uncomfortably.

"We are happy here. Come with me."

Castiel led him into one of the small buildings, which had a simple kitchen and table and chairs. Castiel ladled out four bowls of soup from a pot boiling over a fire in a fireplace and placed them around the table. Castiel smiled at Dean, "Please sit down." Castiel sat in the chair next to him. Dean could hear the girls giggling outside somewhere.

"I appreciate you inviting me for dinner and your hospitality considering your previous experience with humans," Dean smiled at Castiel.

"Oh, the hunters weren't humans. They were demons." Dean could swear that Castiel's eyes lit with blue light as he mentioned the demons.

Faith and Hope tumbled into the room right then and ran to their spots. Dean watched. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to say grace or something. After the girls and Castiel dipped their spoons into the soup, he joined them. "Whoa, Cas, this is really good."

Castiel's eyebrows raised, "What did you call me?"

Faith said, "He called you Cas."

Hope added, "I heard him too."

Dean looked at him awkwardly, "I'm sorry if that offends you?"

"No, someone used to call me that a long time ago," Castiel said quietly.

Faith added, "A really long time ago."

Hope inserted, "Longer than we've been alive."

Faith said, "It was his one true…"

Hope interrupted, "Love. It was his one true love. From when he was trapped in a horrible place. A dark place with monsters."

"We're glad there are no monsters here. Monsters are scary. Castiel brought us here where there are no monsters. Only squirrels," Faith said. She stuck a spoon full of soup in her mouth.

Castiel smiled at his young charges fondly. "Once they start talking, it is hard for them to stop."

Hope took a mouthful of soup, while Faith swallowed her soup. "We like to tag team him. If we take turns taking a bite, one of us can always politely talk without our mouth full."

Dean laughed. "Oh my god, Castiel, you have your hands full."

"My hands full of what?" Castiel looked at him wondering.

"It's a saying -- it just means, taking care of those two must be time-consuming."

"Anything worth having is worth spending time on."

Dean looked at Castiel closely. This Castiel had laugh lines and looked relaxed compared to his. Smiles came easily to him. Getting his Castiel to laugh took effort, but then, as he just said, anything worth having is worth spending time on.

After lunch, the girls scampered off to play.

Castiel said, "I've not been around humans for a long time. But, I can tell when one is troubled. Is there anything I can help you with, Dean?"

"No, Castiel. I just… I thought I could save someone, and then I didn't. It made me realize how arbitrary the world is."

Castiel responded, "We live in a sorry universe. It's engineered to create conflict. Others sometimes prosper from your misfortune. You can call me Cas if you want. I don't mind."

"Tell me about your love?"

"It was a long time ago, Dean. It was hardly a relationship. I was trapped in a castle by the demons. There was another prisoner in the next cell over. We could never see each other, but we would talk for hours. One night, he noticed something had distracted the guards in the castle. Something rather large had gotten loose, perhaps a dragon. He managed to open our cells and we started to run, but it was dark and confusing. I ran into a guard, but Win jumped between me and the guard. He was killed, but I got away." Castiel looked at Dean mournfully.

"Win is his name?"

"It was short for Winchester. But he was my Win," Castiel said. "I never even got a good look at him, but in the dark, in that dungeon, he's the only thing that kept me going. Fay don't do well underground, but he laughed and joked and made my heart light."

"Your Win? Huh." Dean chuckled at the irony.

"Do you have someone?"

"I do. He's probably mad at me right now because I took off in a bit of a huff. I was upset at… the sorry universe. I yelled at him and my brother. As a person, I kind of suck."

Castiel shook his head, "I don't sense that. To me, it seems like you just care so much that it hurts you when you can't help someone. That's compassion, Dean, it's a gift. You keep those."

"But I took it out on the people I love most."

Castiel said, "Imagine Hope and Faith. They are the only people I have usually to take my frustration out on. But can you imagine ever being cross with them? I'm ashamed to say, I have been. One time, Faith got into the jars of honey, something she's not supposed to do because they are heavy, and she dropped and broke one. Instead of telling me, she went to bed. The next morning, not only did we lose an entire month worth of honey, but the platform was full of ants. I got very grumpy not only at her but at Hope too. Hope didn't deserve that; her only guilt was proximity. I'm not proud of myself for being angry with her, but Hope came to me afterward. She hugged me and told me it was okay, she was frustrated too."

Dean said, "Hope and Faith are lucky to have you."

"No, I'm lucky to have Hope and Faith. Before I had the responsibility of caring for them, I didn't know what purpose my life was for. They gave me a direction. I am sad that they lost their parents, but I'm happy that they came into my life. I don't know what I would have become without them."

"Without Sam and Ca… Charles, I would be lost." Dean corrected himself, hoping Castiel hadn't noticed his almost slip up.

"Win's brother's name was Sam as well." Castiel got a faraway look in his face, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile.

Dean stood up. "I should head back out." He didn't want to leave this reality and scare the kids if they witnessed it. He could feel the buildup of energy around him. After all his misadventures in different worlds, he was at least starting to be able to sense when he was about to shift realities.

"It was very nice meeting you, Dean." He called out as he escorted Dean to the elevator, "Faith, Hope, come to say goodbye."

Faith bounced out of one of the buildings, "Awwwww, Squirrel, don't leave." 

Hope followed, "You just got here."

Castiel said, "You're welcome to come back whenever you'd like. You remind me of someone." He smiled.

Dean said sadly, "I doubt I will pass this way again. But I'll never forget you, Hope, and Faith. You're a team."

As the elevator took him back to the ground, he stared back up at the tree wistfully. It'd be awesome if he, Castiel, and Sam had some place like this. Some place away from everything.

He walked back to where he met the girls and waited. This place was beautiful, but it wasn't really real. Well, he scoffed, it was an alternate reality, but it wasn't one he belonged in. It wasn't long until he felt the familiar energy and he blacked out.

He awoke on the car hood. His Castiel was sitting on the hood next to him, relaxed, quietly drinking a beer.

"How'd you get here, Sunshine?"

"Sam and I followed the GPS in your phone to make sure you were ok. When we got here, you were asleep. Sam decided to leave me here with you and head back to the bunker to grab some sleep himself."

"He told you what happened with the Cas from the apocalypse world?"

Castiel smiled sadly, "He did. I killed him when we traveled there, Dean. I saw what he was, but I killed him without hesitation. I saw him as a soldier on the opposing side, so I did what soldiers do. You, Dean, you saw the potential even in something that had become so dark and twisted."

"Nah, it was because he was a version of you, Cas. It wasn't altruistic; it was selfish. I guess I thought if I could save something as bad off as him, I would be able to protect you. It's dumb."

Castiel smiled, "No, it's loving and caring."

"You know, Cas, sometimes the things these reality shifts are really subtle; other times, they hit upside with a stick."

"I thought you had a shift, but I didn't tell Sam. He would have insisted on staying, and I thought you needed some downtime. I violated the whole brothers not having secrets thing. He'll be angry. What was this one like?"

"You were a fay and had two small kids named Hope and Faith."

Castiel made a face, "Really?"

"And I was your Win. Seriously, you called me that."

Castiel snorted, "No. There's no way."

"I'm serious, Cas."

Castiel grinned, "That is definitely your serious face."

"I love you, you dork."

"Assbutt."

Dean pulled Castiel in his arms and kissed him. "You ever think about kids, Cas?"

"What about them? They require a lot of care and are generally very messy. They constantly have colds and sniffles," Castiel rolled his eyes.

Dean said, "Still being serious."

Castiel stared at him, "I don't understand."

"I'm just saying when I retire in a year or so, we could adopt a couple," Dean replied.

"Who are you and what have you done with my Dean?" Castiel retorted.

Dean said, "I just told you I'm going to retire."

Castiel continued to stare at him. 

Dean laughed, "I finally rendered the snark king speechless."

"I don't know what to say. I…" Castiel trailed off.

"We're going to name them Hope and Faith. Two girls. They'll look a little like my mom."

"Do I get a say in this at all?" Castiel protested.

"Not really."


End file.
